Let's be honest, I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and try to do something CHALLENGING.And thanks to this I realized I have the potential to do some badass art but I'm usually too lazy to put 100% of myself in what I draw so I rely on textures and downloaded brushes.

WELL NOT THIS TIME, BETCH. MY STYLE HAS DECIDED TO SETTLE LIKE THIS SO IT'S ANATOMY AND BACKGROUND TIME.

And finally, after months that he's been asking for some decent drawing, I can say I've done justice to my character.

And you know why I drew this?Thanks to *Fourth-Star, who drew me a birthday gift and posted it a few days ago.It gave me such a motivation rush. I didn't think I could pull THIS ONE drawing off. But I did.

I will start with the character.DAMN. This pose. Is awesome. I don't care whether you used a ref, I wouldn't be able to do this with a ref The hands look amazing. Just the whole anatomy is great. All dem muscles *-*The shading is also really nice. Even though it's not the same style as the background's they still match. You just made me love Zan a bit more :Y

Now, the only thing that bugs me a bit about him are the claws on his feet. They seem to be growing out unnaturally, it looks like they were just glued on. But drawig claws is hard and I can't do it myself, so I shaddup :'D

To the background. AND YOU SAY YOU CAN'T DO BACKGROUNDS.The clouds look so fluffy, I love it!The water is amazing, that's all I can say. and I just love LOVE the water-blurr-effect-thingies you did where the water covers his body. That adds a nice touch and even though these are actually very small details, they really make a bit difference. The colors all match so well, it gives the picture a warm and calm atmosphere even though it's actually quite chaotic/ full of movements. On the bottom right corner the water dust/drops kind of look like snow. It doesn't actually fit the picture, but somehow I like it. c:

Overall, you did a great job! I can barely see any mistakes, if at all! And the picture is fun to look at, investigating all the little details you put in there *-* And you can see how much effort and love you did this picture. That's what I call art. <3Just my rule: You can't possibly call it 'art' if it doesn't come from your heart.' (It even rhymes!)

If you keep it up that way and keep improving like that- Oh god, I think my eyes will explode. <33

The Artist has requested Critique on this Artwork

Uh uh very nice drawing you have there It all fits so well together. The coulouring, the line art and the shading And that background I just want to touch it And the colour sheme fits very well Great job!

I'm smiling like an idiot haha I'm so happy to hear I motivated you to make such a marvelous picture <3

Seriously I think it's one of your best works ever, if not THE best. I mean, the pose and the colours and shading and Zan's expression and all those details in the background, everything screams "CHALLENGE ACCOMPLISHED". xD Aaaah I can't get over those water effects It would definitely be awesome to see more challenging pics like this one from you >< Why not make this a little challenge, to make a drawing like this once in a while? Though it's time-consuming, but the more you tell yourself "add more details surpass yourself" the more fun it is 8D And the more you'll like the result too x3

To tell the truth I don't know what I could say to do this justice. BUT I have to say that the amount of detail you put into this is absolutely phenomenal. I especially like the water detail, and the fact that the picture behind the water is distorted, just like it would be in real life. The lighting is awesome to say the least, from the background to Zanarkand, it just fits. The blue glow in his hands is also well done, lighting up the area around it but not being overpowering, but being noticeable at the same time (did that make sense? Pretty sure it didn't). I could probably rave on for a while about this picture, but I can't really put what I want to say into words. Bugger. Either way, this has to be one of your best pieces.

Aaaaaah thank you ;W;Well, the distorted water trick... I found it in a tutorial and was DYING to use it. It fit too much and made the whole thing more realistic ;u;The shading was tricky to make, but I spent about half an hour just trying to make the colours blend in a way they wouldn't be clashy or look too saturated or wrong. I think it paid off in the end

Haha, don't worry, it did make sense. Or at least, I understood what you meant XD

Great job ! the watery background makes the picture moving, and the colors are well choosen. The blue dominance on in the character's hand makes them more visible, and since you drew the fingers well, that render very good

But the left arm may be a bit too large or maybe a bit too short... Or maybe zan as very strong forearms... /shotThe nose is also a bit strange... Looks like Zan smashed his face on a door and so flatten his nose... I think that's due to the "2 blacks lines" for the nose, instead of only one... Maybe with a small dark-grey line joining the two current black lines on the nose, this "flat" impression will disappear.

I referenced that freaking hand like crazy. And making the fingers of the left arm not covered in light rendered the hand better, in my opinion. I worked on this picture too much XD

Actually, it was done on purpose. His forearms are really muscular, due to working out and constant training. It was drawn like that both to show his muscular structure and body type, and for perspective purposes - but I suck at perspective so I may have gone a bit too far with that.And his nose isn't flat. I tried to reference the photo I chose but I couldn't draw the nose any better than that, so I had to work with that. Though you're right, his nose bridge was broken during a fight. |D

Thank you! I hope I can improve even further by doing more of these self challenges ;w;